


What Was

by Ashes_Floating



Series: Something Off [1]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Power Swap, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Archivist Daisy, Archivist Michael Shelley, Beholding Jude Perry, Desolation Gerard Keay, End Martin Blackwood, F/F, F/M, Gen, Hunt Jon, Hunt!Jon, Lonely Basira Hussain, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Spiral Gertrude Robinson, Spoilers after this tag, Stranger Tim Stoker, god swap au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2021-01-26 07:35:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21370510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashes_Floating/pseuds/Ashes_Floating
Summary: [Elias Bouchard promotes Daisy Tonner from angry, ex-cop filing clerk to Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute after Michael Shelley disappears. Basira Hussain, a 31’d detective with a loner streak, ends up as one of her assistants. The other two are Timothy Stoker and Tessa Winters.Elsewhere, supernatural event investigative reporter Jonathan Sims has his next target: a man named Martin Blackwood, who falls at the center of a series of mysterious deaths. Elsewhere, something that was once a woman named Gertrude Robinson cackles with a laugh that sounds like a headache. Elsewhere, YouTube star Melanie King opens a bright yellow door. Elsewhere, the back page of a book belongs to a woman named Jude Perry. Elsewhere, Oliver Banks is consumed by the Hive. Elsewhere, Gerard Keay burns down his mother’s house. Elsewhere-Elsewhere, Jonathan Sims is the Archivist, and he and his companions step through a door in a house on Hilltop Road.]As of April 27th, 2020, this work is under revision. Hopefully I will be able to tune it up to standards soon.
Relationships: Alice “Daisy” Tonner & Tessa Winters, Basira Hussain & Alice "Daisy" Tonner, Basira Hussain/Alice "Daisy" Tonner, Georgie Barker & Jonathan Sims, Georgie Barker/Jonathan Sims, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims, Tim Stoker & Alice "Daisy" Tonner
Series: Something Off [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1540615
Comments: 10
Kudos: 54





	What Was

**Author's Note:**

> So... I forgot this was Alice ‘Daisy’ Tonner, not Daisy Johnson. I’ve edited the chapter to reflect this, along with a few other mistakes I found. Sorry for any confusion this might have caused!

### MAG 001: Anglerfish

**Archivist**

Testing, testing, one-two-three… right.

I'm Alice ‘Daisy’ Tonner. I work for the Magnus Institute, London, which is an organization focused on academic research into the supernatural. The head of the Institute, Elias Bouchard, promoted me to Head Archivist to replace Michael Shelley, who recently passed away.

Before this, I was a filing clerk. Apparently Elias was, too, before he got promoted straight to Head. Before _that_, I was a cop. I'd help in the research where I could, but I always lacked a certain… academic rigor that the others valued more than they valued actual answers, so I usually ended up just sticking things in folders.

I'm coming to regret that. The Institute is almost two hundred years old, at this point, and since most of the staff here would rather deal with academia than actual statements, we ended up with an impeccably organized library and a mess of an Archive. I can't imagine it really would have taken much, to organize the place better, but apparently Shelley didn't even feel like putting that much work in. From where I'm sitting- a cramped little desk in the basement, by the way- I can see thousands of files. They're spread loosely around the place, jammed into unmarked boxes. They seem to be operating on twenty different naming systems, and they're all either handwritten or printed with a typewriter. There are absolutely _no_ accompanying digital or audio files of any sort. I suspect that the piece-of-crap Institute-issued laptop I brought in here may, in fact, be the first computer this room has ever seen.

If it were even slightly more organized, I could probably clean it up in a few months or so. God knows I've got enough practice. But Michael seems to have been determined to leave this place in the worst possible state in which it was still technically intact.

I do have some help. Timothy Stoker and Tessa Winters, some of the researchers here, will be helping achieve my goal: digitize as many of these files as possible. I will be recording audio files as well, but some of them will have to be on tape, since they get distorted on the computer.

Also joining me, someone I'm a bit more aware of: Basira Hussain. I'd heard of her, back when I was still a cop. She was one of the Section 31s, the cops who'd had their own encounters with the supernatural. She had a reputation for being cold, a bit of a loner. Apparently she got the boot too, and Elias hired her.

Now that I think of it, he was the one to hire me, too. But that's aside the point. Tim, Tess, and Ms. Hussain will be helping me do my best to organize these, as well as providing some supplementary investigation. I'll do my best to summarize the results of their work at the end of each statement.

Unfortunately, I can't make any promises as to the order, theme, or any other pertinent information of these statements. I hope, if you're listening to this as part of your own investigations, you won't judge me too harshly.

Well, that's enough excuses. Statement of Nathan Watts, regarding an encounter on Old Fishmarket Close, Edinburgh. Original statement given April 22nd, 2012. Audio recording by Daisy Tonner, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute. Statement begins.

### MAG 002: Do Not Open

**Fearnaught:** Hello, and welcome back to _What the Ghost_! Today, I'm actually talking with investigative reporter Jonathan Sims- some of you may have heard of him.

**Stalker:** _[defensive]_ If that's a jab at the 2009 incident-

**Fearnaught: **Calm down, Jon. I was referring to _your_ podcast.

**Stalker:** Oh. Okay. Sorry.

**Fearnaught:** So, now that we've got Jon's daily instance of paranoia out of the way, let me make introductions. Jonathan Sims is a part-time reporter for _The Political_, the number-three political column in the UK. He also runs his own podcast, in which he investigates supernatural phenomena, called _The Wright Archives_. If you think you know that name, you're not wrong: most of his investigations cover the documents released from the Magnus Institute back in 1999, under James Wright. We also used to date-

**Stalker:** Georgie! You can't just-

**Fearnaught:** And it was an amicable breakup, so we're both happy to collaborate on this episode. Now, Jon, do you want to introduce the case?

**Stalker:** Fine. But if your fans message me asking for- for _details_ or something, I swear…

**Stalker:** A-hem. This case was brought to me by a man who wished to remain anonymous, although he gave me permission to use his first name. It's from Joshua, about a window in the flat he lived in for a year or so.

**Fearnaught:** So what's up with the window?

**Stalker:** _[in a light tone]_ The sky, apparently.

**Fearnaught:** _[barely-restrained laughter]_ Jon. Be serious.

**Stalker:** _[also laughing]_ I am! The story Joshua brought to me actually began around six months before he moved into the flat, when he was approached by a man named Simon. Joshua told me that, during this time, he was vacationing in Amsterdam with a group of friends. He also admitted that they indulged in drug use, which would usually turn me off from the case immediately, but I decided I might as well look into it. This was before the scandal a couple weeks ago, you understand, so I didn't have anything else I needed to do.

**Stalker:** Anyways, Joshua said that he was at a café when Simon approached him. He didn't give much description, other than to say that Simon was tall, thin, and had a posture that gave Joshua a sense of vertigo. They made small talk for several minutes before Simon said that he was looking for a friend to do a favor for him. He said that he just needed someone to watch over a place, for a bit, and that it would pay very well. Joshua became suspicious, of course, but Simon's offer of ten thousand pounds was enough to sway him.

**Fearnaught:** I feel like I should add a PSA in here somewhere. Don't accept offers from strange men for nebulous tasks, no matter how much money they offer you, kids!

**Stalker: **_Anyways,_ Joshua realized only a few minutes later what he'd done, and- well- freaked out. He hid the money, and decided he'd just… give it back, whenever Simon showed up. Skip forwards a few months, and Joshua got a job with an architecture firm in Bournemouth. He needed a better computer, to run the modelling programs for the job on, and he spent a small amount of Simon's money on the laptop. The very next day, he received a note in the mail that informed him that his new flat was ready. Joshua had a friend in Bournemouth that he'd been staying with, and hadn't been looking for a new place. Still, he decided he might as well check it out.

**Fearnaught:** Wha- seriously?

**Stalker:** Georgie, can I tell the story already?

**Fearnaught:** Sorry, sorry. Go ahead.

**Stalker:** Thank you. So Joshua headed to the address of the flat, and it was a big one. I think he said it was actually three bedrooms across two floors, which is absolutely massive for any sort of dwelling in a city. And on the wall of the flat, stretching all the way across the two floors, was a massive window, four-paneled, with a lock right in the center.

**Stalker:** And at the base of the window, there was a small box with a note on it. Joshua told me what was on the note: it said _please enjoy your stay._ It was signed by 'S', who is almost certainly Simon. Inside the box, there was a small key that appeared to fit the window lock. And here's the interesting part: inscribed on the edge of both the lock and the key were the words _do not open_.

**Fearnaught:** Did he open it?

**Stalker: **_No_, he didn't. Over the next year, he observed a number of strange phenomena about the window, from an unnatural temperature change to the sound of singing when it rained. Additionally, he had strange dreams during this time period, during which he began to sleepwalk. Each time that this happened, he came closer and closer to placing the key into the lock on the window, and eventually came up with a way around it: he stuck the key into a bowl of water and placed it into the freezer each night, and the cold would awaken him before he could remove the key from the block of ice.

**Stalker:** After a year, Simon returned, and seemed 'surprised to see him'. He took the key back from Joshua, and informed him that his services were fulfilled. Joshua used some of the remaining money to begin renting an entirely different- and less glamorous- flat in another part of town. He has yet to experience any more phenomena.

**Fearnaught:** Okay, so that's the story. Now, let's break it down. Jon, what are your first thoughts about this case?

### MAG 006: Squirm

**Archivist**

This is audio recovered from phone of Timothy Hodge by the ECDC, and submitted to the Magnus Institute for archival.

Recording begins.

**Audio**

**Victim 1 (presumed to be Timothy Hodge):** Wh- who's there?

**Victim 2 (presumed to be Eleanor Whit):** Timmy? What's going on?

**Vic 1:** Don't worry, Ellie. Just… thought I saw something.

**Vic 2:** 'Something'?

**Vic 1:** Yes, _something._

**Vic 2:** Look, I'm not stupid. I know you think you're being followed by- by some man in a suit-

**Attacker (identity unknown):** He doesn't just think it.

**Vic 2:** Wha- who are you-

[Sounds of a struggle, and the snapping of bone, followed by a soft thud. Believed to be the attacker snapping Eleanor Whit's neck.]

**Vic 1:** Wh- she was innocent!

**Attacker:** She had sex with you, _Timmy_. She was a danger. She needed to be killed.

**Vic 1:** She was just a girl, you didn't need to- to do that. Did the man send you to- to_deliver_ me or something? Is he- is he coming for me?

**Attacker:** No. I'm coming for him. And you aren't the package. You're the message.

[Sounds of a struggle, including the sounds of silverworm.]

**Attacker:** Ugh. Mm? Oh, his phone's recording. Well, then, since I assume it'll be the ECDC who pick this up: you're welcome. I cleaned up for you.

[Sounds of a bottle being unscrewed, and liquid splashing around, then the striking of a match.]

**Attacker: **_Au revoir, _Timothy Hodge.

**Archivist**

Recording ends.

Well. I guess that answers what happened to Timothy Hodge, but it raises a number of _other_ questions.

### MAG 011: Dreamer

**Archivist**

Statement of Marlin Schwartzwald, regarding his recent dreams about Michael Shelley, previous head of the Magnus Institute.

### MAG 012: First Aid

Behind Jude, I saw bottles of saline solution start to bubble and boil. I stepped aside. She nodded in appreciation, and said something that I remember very clearly, although it still makes no sense. She said, "Yes. For you, better beholding than the lightless flame."

### MAG 019-020: Confession, Desecrated Host

**Archivist**

Supplemental statement of Father Edwin Burroughs, regarding a sensation of being… followed.

**Archivist (Statement)**

I apologize to bother you again, especially considering how much trouble I am sure you went to in order to arrange this session. I'm afraid I cannot give a statement anywhere near the length I gave last time, as to put it quite frankly, I don't know what is happening.

I am being watched. Not in the usual sense of prisons, but by something else. I cannot remember when, exactly, this started, but I know that it was after I gave my statement here. I know I am being followed. There is something following me, something with too many teeth and it is coming and it is going to

**Archivist**

Wha…? Damn. The statement ends here, I guess.

**Stalker**

No, I'm afraid it's only just beginning.

[Click]

[Click]

**Archivist**

I was going back and listening to this again. I don't know why. But I do know that no one else was in that room when I was recording it. And I know that voice. That’s the voice of the man that killed Timothy Hodge.


End file.
